Under-fire Tottenham boss Thomas Frank was left “hurt” by their FA Cup exit to Aston Villa, but defended his passionate players after a full-time melee and criticised Ollie Watkins.
A spirited second-half rally could not prevent Spurs suffering another early exit in a domestic cup to increase the pressure on Frank, who has lost seven of his last 13 matches after this 2-1 defeat.
Frank had endured a nightmare week after he inadvertently used a coffee cup with the logo of Spurs’ rivals Arsenal on before a 3-2 loss at Bournemouth on Wednesday, and first-half goals by Villa duo Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers denied him a much-needed cup run.
Wilson Odobert reduced the deficit in the 55th minute and Spurs created further second-half chances, but they ultimately lost again to spark more boos for Frank with Villa’s away support poking fun at the Danish coach with chants about him being an Arsenal fan.
Tempers spilled over at full-time after Frank’s old Brentford forward Watkins celebrated in front of Palhinha, who went on to clash with Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa as players from both teams piled in to produce ugly scenes, but Villa progress.
“We are all hurt. There is nothing we want to do more than to get through to the next round no matter who we face. We play at home, we had a good opportunity and unfortunately we couldn’t go through,” Frank said.
Quizzed on if his players were losing control after they clashed with Tottenham fans away to Bournemouth, Frank said: “I don’t think so.
“I guess you have seen the situation through? I just saw it to be sure I saw what I saw. Of course it’s all about keeping a cool head.
“The players gave everything, everything out there, (but) losing a tight game, season not going perfect and I think Ollie is very provoking.
“The way he is going down to celebrate in front of the Villa fans and he is walking into Joao, he can just easily walk around. I think everyone that has been in a competitive nature, that is difficult and can trigger things.
“You need to play with passion and when you play with passion then sometimes you play to the line and sometimes a little bit borderline.
“I see players with big passion that want to do very well for the club.”
Unai Emery made six changes after a gruelling schedule for Villa, but they sealed a 13th win in 15 matches.
“After 90 minutes, with our momentum, with their momentum, I think we deserved to win,” Emery saidbefore he decided to praise referee Craig Pawson.
“Of course we must respect the referee, we must respect the competition. Only we were a little bit angry because (Boubacar) Kamara was getting injured with one action with Palhinha, but I think the referee today did a fantastic job.
“Some moments happened, with some players, and I think we can understand in the circumstances it happens on the field.”
